Residents of Ibadan have raised the alarm over the rate at which beggars are taking over major roads in the city, disrupting free flow of traffic and traumatising road users.

Some of the residents, who spoke with journalists in Ibadan on Tuesday, accused the state government of not doing enough to rid the city of beggars.

Aside from the usual sight of the physically-challenged beggars, diseased and able-bodied persons are now joining the beggars’ trade.

Mofoluwaso Olajide, a consultant and senior lecturer in Oral Pathology, Lagos State University College of Medicine, said that society should not encourage diseased individuals-turned-beggars.

According to Mrs Olajide, this category of beggars, whom she described as exploiters, have seen their ailments as meal tickets and will, therefore, refuse help to have them cured or treated.

She recounted her experience with a couple of people in this category and how they had declined help to be cured when such an offer was handed out to them.

Mrs Olajide described the trauma being created by such people in the minds of the residents of the metropolis, especially children, as they parade themselves on major roads.

“This is in most of our cities like Lagos and Ibadan. It is quite common and this is a wake-up call to the state government, through the Social Welfare Department, to pick up people like that and put them in institutions that could determine who actually needed medical help.

“The economic situation in the country is not helping matters, as lots of people are living below the poverty line and they are using everything, including disabilities, to keep their body and soul together,” she said.

According to the dentist, a false impression of wanting to get out of the condition is created, but what people need is money to feed, which is the basic need of life.

“The way to go about it is not to use this condition to harass people on the road,” she said.

She emphasised the need to save the children from being psychologically affected when suddenly exposed to this set of beggars.

In his view, a teacher, Akintomiwa Fadeyi, described street begging, particularly in the 21st century, as an eyesore that had made Ibadan city more ancient.

Mr Fadeyi described the menace as irritating and one capable of discouraging foreign investors from coming to the state.

“From my observation, the Oyo State government lacks the political will to bring an end to the menace.

“Street begging has been made a booming industry by some powerful elements and the present governor appears to have no solution to it.

“I know that this same government built a place for the beggars at Moniya. However, the same government has failed to monitor or enforce its order on them.

“There is a strong reason for one to conclude that there are some people somewhere who have contracted some vulnerable people to engage in the shameful trade and share the proceeds with them.

“Imagine, many of these beggars even go as far as obstructing traffic to beg from drivers and passengers,” Mr Fadeyi said.

He identified Odo-Ona, New Garage, Orita-Challenge, Molete, Oja-Oba, Beere and Iwo-Road as some of the areas in Ibadan with large population of beggars.

Mr Fadeyi stated that some ‘high-class’ beggars go as far as rejecting lower naira denominations, such as N20 and N10 notes.

Similarly, Kayode Akinola, a resident of Iwo-Road community, said it was frustrating that the biggest city in Nigeria had been neglected to the extent of it becoming a haven for beggars.

Mr Akinola, a computer engineer, said that as a consequence, street begging could perpetuate a cycle of dependency, leading to long-term social issues.

“It may also contribute to the stigmatisation and marginalisation of individuals who have resorted to begging.

“Economically, street begging often indicates lack of economic opportunities, poverty and inequality.

“It can also affect the overall economic productivity of the city, as resources are redirected toward addressing the immediate needs of beggars rather than long-term solutions,” he said.

The computer scientist frowned at the cultural stumbling block being constituted by the street beggars.

“Culturally, street begging can challenge the cultural norms because it is against our practice in this part of the world to make a living out of begging,” he said.

Another resident, Rotimi Famakin, says it is appalling that beggars are taking over the streets of Mokola, Sango, Agbowo, UI and Ojoo, all in Ibadan.

He expressed regret over the situation whereby teenagers were being systematically lured into taking drugs and engaging in premature sex through street begging.

According to him, most of the beggars may not be conscious of whatever evil intentions those offering them money or food may have concerning them.

“Most of the time, the ingredients that form part of the offering to the beggars, such as money, honey and other strange objects, are suspicious and indicative that they may mean something else other than charity.

“The menace of street begging under the Mokola roundabout bridge is even so worrisome that both the old and young engage in physical combats whenever the giver splashes such money and food on them.

“In fact, I usually see able-bodied men and women chancing or cheating the physically-challenged beggars by snatching their shares of offering from them.

“Worst still, I see parents who take their little children on the begging business while they take the back seat somewhere, watching as their children approach different people for money,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state government has assured the people of ongoing efforts to rehabilitate all the street beggars in Ibadan and other cities in the state.

The chief press secretary (CPS) to Governor Seyi Makinde, Sulaiman Olanrewaju, gave the assurance while speaking with journalists

According to Mr Olanrewaju, government will not send non-indigene beggars back to their respective states, as the law permits every Nigerian to reside in any part of the country.

“These people are Nigerians and they have the right to reside here (Ibadan). However, the only problem is that they are now constituting nuisance to the society through their activities.

“Government will ensure that they don’t cause problems for us here.

“So what we are doing now is to ensure that we make it impossible for street beggars, who will be moved to the rehabilitation centre at Akinyele, to escape back to the streets to beg for alms.

“Government is even planning that as many of them who are of school age are returned to school,” he said.

The chief press secretary assured that the rehabilitation centre would be made conducive for the beggars, with facilities such as water, electricity, sleeping rooms, perimeter fencing of the centre and other things.

“We will ensure that the centre is well-monitored to guard against people escaping from there.

“So, once they are taken back to the centre, there won’t be any reason for them to return to the streets,” he said.

He reiterated Mr Makinde-led administration’s plan to upgrade the lifestyle of the state during his second term.

“The Makinde-led administration is determined to ensure that the state has an environment that is attractive for investors and conducive for healthy living.

“The state cannot have that kind of environment if we have street beggars and people dumping refuse on the roads,” he said.

(NAN)